BASF, John Deere and partners receive DLG gold medal for decision-support system for farmers

BASF, John Deere and partners were recently awarded a gold medal from the Deutsche Landwirtschafts-gesellschaft (DLG, German Agricultural Society) for the prototype of a new decision-support system for farmers called “Connected Crop Protection with Pesticide Application Manager.” The system is a close collaboration between different companies and public institutions, each of which brings its special expertise to the project: BASF, John Deere, the Information System for Integrated Plant Production (ISIP), the Central Institute for Decision-Support Systems in Crop Protection (ZEPP), the Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI) and the Association for Technology and Structures in Agriculture (KTBL). The medal-winning solution will be developed towards full-fledged market readiness during 2016.
 
The “Connected Crop Protection with Pesticide Application Manager” combines all the steps of a crop protection application process in one IT-based solution. It supports tailored crop protection solution recommendations, provides operators with filling and spraying assistance, and generates full documentation of these steps. The system’s “Application Manager” (PAM) assists farmers by automatically taking buffer zones into account and correspondingly turning nozzles off and on while spraying. The solution was developed and tested in conjunction with farmers to ensure its full usefulness and relevance.
 
Farmers today have to consider a wide array of different legislation and information in order to decide on the right plant protection treatment. In the joint project, the partner companies aimed to provide farmers with a single crop protection treatment system that provides practical support for their seasonal work. The new solution helps growers make decisions regarding targeted, well-timed and precise applications. It will allow them to apply crop protection products more precisely, save money and time, and thus increase profitability while reducing environmental impact.
 
“BASF’s approach to innovation is underpinned by connecting with others, such as John Deere. After the announcement of our collaboration in July 2014, we are proud to receive a gold medal from the DLG for the “Connected Crop Protection with Pesticide Application Manager.” It shows that our commitment to delivering customer value through innovation addresses the changing needs in agriculture with the right ideas,” explains Michael Hess, Vice President, Business Management Crop Protection for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Benelux at BASF.
 
The PAM-project is supported by funds of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) based on a decision of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany via the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) under the innovation support program.